Bad news for BAA as it has not been given permission to appeal against the ruling which will force it to sell Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports. The Competition Commission ruled in 2009 that it must sell off three of its seven UK airports, which BAA has been trying to challenge ever since.

The ruling has already forced BAA to sell off London Gatwick.

A BAA spokesperson said it was disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision not to hear its latest appeal.

“We continue to make the case to the Competition Commission that the circumstances in which they found reason to force the sale of airports have changed significantly since early 2009 and should certainly be reviewed in the light of the Government’s policy to rule out new runway capacity in the South East of England,” he said.

In a statement, the Competition Commission said it was looking to see if there had been any significant developments since the original decision that would make it reconsider its position. It said it would consider the arguments from BAA and others and should report back towards the end of next month.